'Lilyhammer' Steven Van Zandt: 'I was nervous to play gangster again'

Steven Van Zandt has admitted he was nervous about following up The Sopranos by starring as a mobster again in the new series Lilyhammer.

The musician-actor - who played Silvio on The Sopranos - told Reuters that playing a mobster in the witness protection program proved too compelling a role to pass up.

"I had said, the last thing in the world I'm thinking of is playing a gangster again - I don't even know if I'm gonna act ever again - but it was immediately fascinating to me," he revealed. "Sometimes an idea like that is absolutely magic. This was one instance where I said, 'I gotta try to do this'."

Van Zandt also admitted that he found the idea of filming Lilyhammer in Europe appealing.

"Ever since I began doing my solo records, I had started spending most of my time in Europe, and I love that cross-cultural thing," he said.